Meta Criticizes German Antitrust Order to Curb Its Data Collection

Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, criticized a landmark German antitrust order to curb its data collection as 'clearly flawed' and which undermines EU data protection rules. Meta's criticism of the German antitrust watchdog came after the latter in 2019 said the world's largest social network had abused its market power by collecting users' data without their consent and ordered it to stop.

Yellen Reiterates Call for Regulation of Stablecoins After TerraUSD Drops

A decline in the price of a major cryptocurrency that was purportedly pegged to the dollar prompted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to reiterate calls for Congress to authorize regulation of so-called stablecoins. TerraUSD, the fourth-largest stablecoin and 10th-largest cryptocurrency by market value according to CoinMarketCap, saw its price fall as low as 69 cents Monday after a series of large withdrawals over the weekend.

U.S., EU, U.K. Blame Russia for Cyber Attack on Satellite Modems in Ukraine

The US, European Union and the UK have blamed Russia for a hack that knocked out internet service for tens of thousands of satellite modems in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe at the onset of Russia’s invasion on February 24. The cyberattack on a satellite network owned by US-based telecommunications firm Viasat disrupted communications in Ukraine an hour before Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to an EU statement, and the collateral damage included knocking thousands of wind turbines offline in Germany that relied on the satellite network.

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Treasury Department Issues First Sanctions Against Cryptocurrency Mixer

The Treasury Department issued its first sanctions against a cryptocurrency mixer, a service that pools digital assets to obscure their owners, as it continues its pursuit of more than $600 million that North Korean hackers stole from the Axie Infinity video game. The move targets a mixer called Blender. The hackers have used it to process more than $20 million of their haul since their March attack on the game, Treasury said.

Under U.S. Pressure, Chinese Tech Companies Curtailing Business in Russia

Chinese tech companies are quietly pulling back from doing business in Russia under pressure from U.S. sanctions and suppliers, despite calls by Beijing for companies to resist overseas coercion. Several major companies are curtailing shipments in Russia, where Chinese tech firms dominate the market for many products, without making any public announcements, according to interviews with people familiar with the matter.

German Classification of Meta Gives It More Control Over Facebook

Germany's cartel office said that Meta Platforms Inc., the owner of Facebook, has "paramount significance for competition across markets", a classification which gives the regulator more leeway to curb digital companies' market power. Under legislation introduced by German lawmakers in early 2021, the cartel office can ban what it deems to be anti-competitive activities.

China's Central Bank Promises 'Normalized' Supervision of Tech Companies

China’s central bank said it will implement “normalized” supervision on the financial activities of online platform companies, reiterating comments from top leaders. The People’s Bank of China held a meeting on April 29 to discuss implementing financial support for the economy and policies to boost the healthy development of technology platform companies, it said in a statement.

U.S. to Boost Cybersecurity Efforts Related to Quantum Technology

The White House will announce a slate of measures to support quantum technology in the United States while laying out steps to boost cybersecurity to defend against the next generation of supercomputers. The U.S. and other nations are in a race to develop quantum technology, which could fuel advances in artificial intelligence, materials science and chemistry. Quantum computers, a main focus of the effort, can operate millions of times faster than today's advanced supercomputers.

SEC Boosting Size of Special Unit Devoted to Cryptocurrency Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission will boost the size of its special unit devoted to investigating cryptocurrency frauds and other misconduct, a move that follows the agency’s aggressive push to get the unregulated industry to come under federal supervision. The SEC said it plans to add 20 investigators and litigators to its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, which was created in September 2017 when regulators noticed a surge of new digital coins sold to the public.

Homeland Security Advisory Board on Disinformation Creates Partisan Fight

The creation of an advisory board at the Department of Homeland Security on the threat of disinformation has turned into a partisan fight over disinformation itself — and what role, if any, the government should have in policing false, at times toxic, and even violent content online. Within hours of the announcement, Republican lawmakers began railing against the board as Orwellian, accusing the Biden administration of creating a “Ministry of Truth” to police people’s thoughts.

Apple Sues Tech Startup Rivos for Stealing Computer Chip Trade Secrets

Technology startup Rivos Inc allegedly stole Apple Inc's computer-chip trade secrets after poaching its engineers, Apple said in a lawsuit filed in California federal court. Apple's lawsuit said Mountain View, California-based Rivos has hired over 40 of its former employees in the past year to work on competing "system-on-chip" (SoC) technology, and that at least two former Apple engineers took gigabytes of confidential information with them to Rivos.

PayPal Prompted European Commission's Antitrust Complaint Against Apple

PayPal Holdings Inc. helped spur a formal antitrust complaint against Apple Inc. and its iPhone payments system by raising concerns with the European Commission, according to people with knowledge of the matter. European regulators hit Apple with a so-called statement of objections, arguing that the iPhone maker abuses its control over mobile payments. The complaint centers on the company reserving the iPhone’s tap-to-pay abilities for its own Apple Pay service, rather than letting rival payment platforms use the feature.

Chipmakers Divided Over Fighting U.S. Proposal to Limit Investments in China

Chipmakers are divided over how aggressively to oppose a legislative proposal that would give the U.S. government sweeping new powers to block billions in U.S. investment into China, according to documents seen by Reuters. The measure is part of the House version of a bill that would also grant $52 billion to chipmakers to expand operations, a boon to the industry that has made some companies loath to forcefully oppose the package's China investment controls.

War in Ukraine Leads to Unprecedented Cyber Attacks Against Russia

The third month of war in Ukraine finds Russia, not the United States, struggling under an unprecedented hacking wave that entwines government activity, political voluntarism and criminal action. Digital assailants have plundered the country’s personal financial data, defaced websites and handed decades of government emails to anti-secrecy activists abroad. One recent survey showed more passwords and other sensitive data from Russia were dumped onto the open Web in March than information from any other country.

Russian Law Firm Sues Apple for Withdrawing Its Payment Service

A Russian law firm said it had filed a lawsuit against U.S. tech giant Apple seeking 90 million rubles ($1.28 million) in damages for consumers affected by Apple withdrawing its payment service from Russia. Law firm Chernyshov, Lukoyanov & Partners said Apple had violated Russian consumers' rights after the company restricted the use of its built-in Apple Pay service on March 1 in response to Moscow sending troops into Ukraine.

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